Don't Upgrade Your Home Without This List
So you want to upgrade your home? If you have the money for it, congratulations! But beware. Some people choose home upgrades based on what looks good on Instagram, and what looks good on Instagram isn’t necessarily the best choice for the house. Here are some popular home upgrades that actually just caused trouble.
Rainfall Showerheads
People buy these hopping for a touch of luxury in their bathrooms and are severely disappointed. Rainfall showerheads often distribute water too gently, making rinsing off shampoo a big pain, and they can even lead to mold buildup if your bathroom lacks proper ventilation.
Open Shelving in Kitchens
Looks great on Pinterest and absolutely not worth it in real life. Unless you're the type who always stacks matching dishes and never buys novelty mugs, open shelving quickly turns into a huge headache. Just get regular cabinets with doors that close, and hide your uglier mugs and plates away from public view.
Barn Doors
Barn doors are stylish and very popular, but not very private or practical. They don’t seal shut like traditional doors, so they let in noise and odors, which is awkward for bathrooms or bedrooms. And they often require more wall space than expected.
Vessel Sinks
Vessel sinks are generally for people with more money than sense. They look great (and more to the point, look expensive) but the raised bowl design often leads to splash zones on your countertop, and cleaning around them is a pain.
Wall-Mounted Faucets
This really isn’t much of a home improvement. Wall-mounted faucets look modern and chic to an extent, but installation can be tricky and expensive. If there’s a plumbing issue later, you have to tear into the wall to fix it and that’s a huge headache.
Pot Filler Taps
They look fancy over the stove, but how often are you really filling pots too heavy to carry? Most folks barely use them, and they’re another spot where leaks can develop. Plus, you still have to carry the full pot back to the sink to empty it, so what’s the point?
Smart Thermostats
In theory, smart thermostats save money and make life more convenient. But if you’re not tech-savvy, and a lot of people aren’t, the learning curve can be frustrating. Some people just don’t see the energy savings they were promised and end up frustrated.
Glass Kitchen Backsplashes
These look clean and modern - until you start cooking. Glass shows every smudge, splatter, and fingerprint, and even steam can leave marks. Homeowners often find themselves wiping it down constantly, wasting time that could be spent actually using the kitchen.
Home Theater Rooms
You gotta be rich to pull this one off, but is it worth spending your money on, really? People like to stream on their tablets and watch TV in bed, and what they don’t like is heading to a dark, cramped theater space every time they want to watch something.
Luxury Tubs
Don’t buy a luxury tub, the one you have will be fine. Luxury tubs take forever to fill, use tons of water, and are hard to clean. Some people even found their water heaters couldn’t handle the load. A lot of those luxury tubs end up being replaced within a few years.
Wall Niches
People think wall niches will be a great spot to store things, but they should think twice. In showers, they’re just magnets for grime and mold, and many homeowners end up wishing they’d just installed a nice shelf instead of cutting a hole in their tile wall.
Touchless Faucets
Great idea in theory - until the sensor stops cooperating. Some turn on and off at the worst times, causing mini floods, while others don't respond at all when your hands are full of soap. Many people have installed them and regretted them instantly.
Sunrooms
These look so good in photographs, but the reality often turns out to be very different. In many climates they’re either too hot or too cold to use year-round, and heating and cooling costs skyrocket if you try to make them comfortable.
Trendy Flooring
Chevron wood, gray planks, or glossy black tiles might look amazing right now, but trends fade away fast. If you’re planning on selling your house in the future, the next person might not want it. Plus, the materials may degrade over time.
Backyard Kitchens
This is another home upgrade people fast come to regret. Outdoor kitchens require weatherproofing and regular maintenance, and then they attract pests and soon start to rust. Whoever created this trend has a lot to answer for.
Statement Lighting
A chandelier is the ultimate symbol of luxury, but not a very practical one. How are you going to clean it or replace a bulb without specialist help? Plus, some chandelier owners find they give off poor lighting or cast strange shadows about the room.
Sliding Glass Closet Doors
Yeah, they’re kind of cool, especially if you put mirrored glass on them, but they can also be a problem. You can only access half the closet at a time, and the tracks get filled with dirt and debris. Plus, sometimes the doors just fall off if they’re poorly installed.
Artifical Turf
How great is it not having to mow the lawn? Well, it seems great, and then you realize the host of problems which come with artificial turf. It overheats in summer, which means it can burn the feet of your children or pets. And if it gets stained, it’s hard to clean.
Overbuilt Gardens
Adding water features, elaborate rock gardens, or intricate flower beds may look beautiful… but they’re expensive to install and even more costly to actually maintain. Pumps break, weeds creep in, and suddenly you need to hire a gardener you don’t have the money for.
Indoor Water Features
If you thought outdoor water features were bad, indoor ones are even worse. Many require constant cleaning to prevent buildup, and some even develop mildew issues. It’s just not worth it unless you’re rich enough to hire someone to maintain it.
Built-In Desks
Built-in desks were cool once upon a time, and now they’re just not anymore. Many homeowners wish they’d gone with a freestanding desk they could move or upgrade more easily, because suddenly the whole room has to be arranged around this one thing.
Faux Wood Ceiling Beams
People love these for their rustic charm and don’t realize what a pain they are. Some are made of foam or composite that looks super fake up close, and others even start sagging over time. If not installed correctly, they can even fall down.
Glossy Cabinets
How did these ever get so popular? They’re a nightmare to clean. Many folks spend more time wiping them down than they ever did with traditional cabinets, and still the stains remain.
Under-Cabinet Lighting
Under-cabinet lighting is a nice idea, but if the wires aren’t well-hidden, it just looks messy. Plus, cheaper systems often flicker or break eventually. Take a step back and really think about it… what value would under-cabinet lighting really add to the house?
Smart Appliances
Advertisers push these on you, but you don’t need them. When one little sensor fails, repairs are costly, and it’s just not worth it. Many homeowners find themselves using only the basics eventually while the “smart” features are left out of the picture altogether.
Floating Vanities
They look clean and modern, but floating vanities can be more trouble than they're worth. The exposed bottom collects dust and debris, requiring constant awkward cleaning, and if they’re not installed correctly they can easily come away from the wall.
Frameless Glass Shower Doors
These look nice in some bathrooms, but they tend to leak if the install wasn’t perfect. Suddenly, you’re spending all your time cleaning up water instead of enjoying your shower. And some people don’t like how unstable glass without a frame looks.
Overly Open Floor Plans
Tearing down walls can make a home feel spacious and modern, but too open can mean too noisy and nowhere to hide the mess. Cooking smells travel around, sound echoes, and there’s little privacy. This is especially bad news for families.
Built-In Entertainment Centers
These were really popular once, but times have changed. All the entertainment doesn’t need to be in one place anymore. Plus, there’s the problem of size. What if you buy a new TV and it doesn’t fit into the entertainment center?
Trough Sinks
People really need to stop trying to reinvent the sink, the traditional one has worked fine for centuries. Trough sinks are hard to clean and a lot of people don’t even think they look very nice. Many a homeowner has lived to regret putting one in.
Skylights
They flood the room with natural light… until they start leaking. Even well-installed skylights can soon develop condensation issues, or cause annoying drafts in the room. And cleaning them? Not exactly easy. Stick with your regular windows.
Exotic Countertops
Exotic materials look striking, but they stain, scratch, and patina faster than expected. Concrete can crack and needs resealing, while zinc develops a cloudy look some homeowners hate. They're also expensive to install, don’t forget that part.
Large Kitchen Islands
A kitchen island is one of those things that seems like a great idea at first, then you actually install it and realize it isn’t what you hoped for. Overly large kitchen islands dominate the kitchen space and make it harder to actually move around in there. That’s not what you want, especially if you have kids or pets coming into the kitchen all the time.
Built-In Vacuum Systems
These are going out of fashion now, because most homeowners barely use them. The hoses are bulky, the suction isn't always better than a regular vacuum, and the installation is pricey. Plus, if a clog happens in the wall piping? Good luck fixing it.
Jacuzzi Tubs on Decks
Having a jacuzzi tub on your deck seems great at first – it’s even sort of a status symbol – but the reality is more difficult. It costs a lot of money in energy costs, for a start, and then you have the business of cleaning it out and giving it regular maintenance.
